


Morning Encounters

by fitz-and-simmons (fitzandjemma)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, next door neighbours au, this is really strange and weird and i wrote it late at night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3679131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fitzandjemma/pseuds/fitz-and-simmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We live in adjacent apartments and you sing in the shower and you're really good so I join in AU. </p><p>~~~</p><p>He was about to turn on the shower when he heard it. A voice. Fitz pulled his hand away from the water dial and leaned closer to the cool tile wall. It was definitely there. A woman’s voice. And she was singing. </p><p>This was unusual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> All of the songs were chosen purely because I like them. 
> 
> You can listen to them here: https://8tracks.com/fitz-and-simmons/morning-encounters
> 
> EDIT: Due to new 8tracks restrictions the playlist is no longer available there. Sorry! :(

He was about to turn on the shower when he heard it. A voice. Fitz pulled his hand away from the water dial and leaned closer to the cool tile wall. It was definitely there. A woman’s voice. And she was singing.

This was unusual.

He could even make out the song, though he didn’t recognise it. It was something rock-y anyhow. Powerful.

The cold was starting to get to him and there was only so long he could stand around naked in his bathroom so he turned on the shower. Plus he felt kind of creepy eavesdropping on his neighbour’s private karaoke. He’d never even met her. The spray drowned out the singing and he didn’t think of it for the rest of the day.

~~~

The next day he heard her again, although this time he recognised the song. It was some catchy late ‘90s number he recognised from his teens.

_“A little bit of Monica in my life. A little bit of Erica by my side.”_

It was cheesy and strange but Fitz grinned at the song he hadn’t heard in years. And, he noticed, the girl singing wasn’t half talented. He listened a few seconds longer before turning his shower on and stepping under the spray.

For the rest of the day he found himself humming the song to himself. After the fifth time, people started to get annoyed.

“Dude!” Skye groaned “Really, Mambo No 5? How old are you?”

He only replied with a smile before getting hit round the head.

~~~

She was there again the day after that. This time it was a Disney ballad. He was pretty sure it was one of the Pocahontas ones. The wind song. He made a mental note to re watch that film. His Disney knowledge had fallen by the wayside lately.

When he returned home from work he pulled out his old clunky laptop, plugged it in, fired it up and wenting shifting through his old film collection. He hadn’t used this computer since his work paid for a nice new shiny one. All of the files were still there though it took him almost ten minutes of searching to find the one he wanted. He pressed play and Disney’s Pocahontas began on his screen. Fitz leaned back as relaxed and content as he could remember ever being.

When the song he had heard that morning played, he hummed along.

~~~

On the Thursday, he was expecting to hear her. The song of the day had returned to rock but this time Fitz knew it, if only vaguely. He had a feeling it had been in the background of a Percy Jackson film a year or so back. (He flinched thinking about that movie. Such a horrible adaptation.) Good song though.

Later that day as he dusted his living room he found himself crooning the few lines he did know.

_"So light em up up up, light em up up up, light em up up up, I’m on fire."_

He started to get into it until he was interrupted by his neighbour on the other side, Mr. Chamberlain.

“Keep the noise down!” He banged on the walls.

“Sorry sir!” Jeez the walls really were paper thin. Fitz was lucky he was on the side of the flat away from her. He didn’t want her to hear his croaky voice. He’d have to be careful about the noises he made on that side of the flat.

~~~

However on Friday there was no music to accompany his morning. His shower felt silent and oddly lonely. The whole process of getting ready was dampened and sad. He left the flat a tad late with a slice of toast sticking out his mouth and still attempting to tie his tie.

Before he registered the door next to his opening he had already bumped into her. He looked down to be greeted with a beautiful girl.

She had big wild eyes and greasy hair and her face was a tad pale. She was stunning.

“I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, hurrying past him before breaking into a run. Fitz’s mouth gaped open in shock and his toast dropped to the ground.

If he’d had any doubts about who she was when he bumped into her, her voice would have confirmed it. It was like honey and he wanted to hear it all day.

She must have been running late. It explained her absence in the shower that day. Fitz walked away stunned, wondering if the whole experience had been a mirage.

The voice finally had a face and one he couldn’t get out of his mind at that.

It wasn’t until he arrived home at the end of the day that he realised his toast was still on the floor, squished into the carpet. Oh bollocks.

~~~

On Saturday there was no voice in his shower. This was to be expected however as on the weekends there was no strict schedule to adhere to.

He lingered in the bathroom after he had washed himself. He wasn’t being creepy, he reasoned to himself. The bathroom was just the warmest room and today was a cold day. He could sit on the floor in his towel, next to the radiator and read.

Half an hour later her voice returned to his life. This time he could picture her singing, imagine her lips moving and her closed eyes leaning back into the spray.

He didn’t recognise the song today. He didn’t even recognise the language. It sounded French. Jesus, could she speak French? Or did she just really like this one French song?

It was powerful though and it moved him. He could hear the passion in the words and without knowing their meaning he could place his own on them. Fitz closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall. For the first time he listened for the whole song.

Beginning to end.

Something stirred in his stomach. Something big.

~~~

He wasn’t eavesdropping, he just happened to be in the bathroom the same time she was showering. It was no biggie. He was just in his own flat. It’s not like he’d broken into hers or anything.

And just because he was right next to the wall adjacent to hers meant nothing. The straining ears were for… burglars?

Fitz sighed. He was hooked wasn’t he?

Wait! It was her, it was her!

Fitz’s face broke into a huge grin. He knew this song. He loved this song.

_"Cause I’m just a teenage dirtbag baby"_

Suddenly his hand was clamped over his mouth.

He’d almost tried to join in but his reflexes had saved him. He couldn’t sing along. Out of the question, certainly.

She’d certainly hear him if he even spoke.

He listened to the rest of the song with his hand locked over his mouth. Just in case.

~~~

They were back on the same schedule on Monday. In sync again.

Fitz listened to her when he should have been showering. This would definitely make him late. He was going to be so late.

The tune of the day was some pop track of the moment. She’d given it a rock twist that enthralled him. Her voice was pure magic.

He wondered why she only sang one song a day. Most people who sing in the shower seem to do it for the duration of their wash. Maybe it was her little ritual, the way he tapped his bedpost every night before bed.

Fitz ran out of time for a shower that day and arrived at work smelly and greasy. It was worth the teasing he received from Skye and Mack but if Fitz was going to continue to listen to his neighbour every morning (which he still felt weird and creepy about but he was too far gone to stop) then he’d have to shower a little earlier than usual. He mentally re-adjusted his routine and when he went to bed that evening he set his alarm five minutes earlier.

~~~

The next day it all went wrong. He forgot himself.

It had all started so right. He’d gotten up early enough to shower before her so he was fresh and ready when her voice drifted into his waiting and eager ears that day.

It was another Disney song. If only he hadn’t watched Tangled a couple weeks earlier.

_“And at last I see the light_   
_And it’s like the fog has lifted”_

Her voice was sweet and perfect. Fitz melted.

_“All at once everything is different_   
_Now that I see you”_

She took a breath, about to start in the deeper Flynn Rider verse before a male voice interrupted.

_"All those days chasing down a daydream_   
_All those years living in a blur"_

Fitx realised with a panic that he was the one singing. He did what he promised himself he’d never do. It was like a waking dream, he knew it was him singing but he couldn’t stop himself. His mouth moved of it’s own accorded, swept away from himself.

There was a shriek from across the wall. She’d heard him. He soldiered through the verse feeling ridiculous until it was time for her to join back in.

 _“And at last I see the light.”_ They both sang in harmony, although Fitz could hear the hesitance and confusion in her voice.

They dueted until the end of the song. The whole experience was completely bizzare.

As soon as they both petered out, the sound of a door slamming erupted from the woman’s flat. Then another and then a frantic knocking on his door.

He still felt out of control of his actions as he went to answer the door.

He was greeted with her again, in a bathrobe and looking adorably confused.

“Was that you?” She demanded and Fitz’s mouth had never felt drier.

“Uh… Ah.”

“You can hear me sing in the shower?” Her hair was still wet, Fitz noticed.

“The walls… They’re thin.” He tried to explain, bringing up a hand to cup his neck sheepishly.

“Oh that’s so embarrassing!” The woman cried and put her head in her hands.

“No! It’s um… You have a very nice voice.” He tried to comfort her in vain.

“I’m going to talk to you later, but I’m going to be late.” She said, bringing her hands away from her face.

“Of course!”

“I’m Jemma by they way.” She stuck out her hand. “Jemma Simmons.”

Fitz just looked at her hand. Jemma… That was a good name.

After a couple seconds waiting Jemma picked up his hand, placed it in her own and shook it.

“And you are..?”

“Oh! Oh yes. Leopold Fitz.”

“Nice to meet you Leopold, but I gotta go.” And suddenly she was gone.

Fitz finally returned to his body as he shut the door. Did… Did that really happen?

He looked down at his hand as though it was something new and strange to him. He flexed it but he could still feel her touch.

He walked through work as though in a dream. He barely spoke two words to his friends as he focused on the morning encounter.  

At six in the evening she knocked on the door. Fitx took a moment to straighten his tie before opening the door.

Before he could say hello or apologise or something Jemma spoke.

“I want to do an experiment. Do people call you Leo?”

“Most people call me Fitz or Leo. How is that an experiment?”

“I’ll try both, see which fits better. That wasn’t the experiment. I want you to go into my bathroom and make noise and sing a bit. I want to hear how much of me you can hear.”

“I… ok yeah sure.” She moved, giving him room to get to her flat. He walked through her open door and paused. Architecture-wise it was the same as his own except mirrored.

The whole place smelt really good. He made his way to her bathroom, trying not to snoop in her home.

Her bathroom was much like his own, which made the differences stand out even more. The fruity shampoo and conditioner. The body lotion. The female razor. The make up. He was snooping again.

“Can you hear me?” He called out.

“Yeah,” came the reply “Oh god I can hear you really well.”

“Well if it makes you feel better, it goes both ways.”

“But you’re so quiet! I’ve never noticed hearing you before. Now sing something!”

“What! Nuh uh.” Fitz grinned.

“It’s only fair.” She had him there. It was very easy for her to wrap him round his little finger he realised, and this was just the third time they’d met.

He began to nervously sing the first song that came to head, some Blink 182 tune. Would she like it? He’d never heard her sing anything from this band. Would she judge his music taste? Although hers was varied enough.

She began to join in and he huffed in relief.

They paused awkwardly.

“You’re good.” She said.

“Not-” He swallowed “Nowhere near as good as you.”

~~~

The next day she didn’t sing but instead greeted him with a cheery ‘Hello Fitz!’ through the walls.

“Hullo!” He called through the walls, instantly regretting it. Hullo? He sounded like someone out of a Jerome K Jerome book. He’d be wearing flannels and going on a boat jaunt with George and Harris next.

Hullo… honestly!

~~~

They began to hang out and gradually became friends. Fitz found that his mystery woman was smart, funny, kind and all round perfect. So it was no wonder that he fell hopelessly in love. Completely and utterly. He marvelled at her every moment. He even enticed her into singing in the shower again by starting duets that were impossible not to finish.

“Mna ma na.”

…

“Come on Jemma, you know you want to.”

“Doo doo doo doo do.” She said, dead-panned. 

A month or so after first meeting, they were curled up on Fitz’s sofa watching a film. Well ,Fitz was watching her watch a film. Same difference.

He should kiss her, he mused. Soon the window of opportunity would pass and they’d be too comfortable in their friendship to move. Should he kiss her now? Or get her someplace romantic? Perhaps he should trick her into admitting whether she wanted to kiss her or not.

Muddled amongst his musings, Fitz unconsciously drew closer to her. Jemma started at his movement and turned to look at him.

Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips.

Then she kissed him.

Fitz froze in shock. His brain short circuited and his eyes bulged. Maybe he’d wished so hard he was imagining things?

After a few seconds she drew away.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go.” She began to get up. Shit, shit!

“Wait, no!” He surged forward and kissed her hard. She responded eagerly.

They didn’t stop to talk about theirs feelings and reasonings until the following morning.

~~~

Jemma Simmons woke up in an unfamiliar bed, groggy and naked. Her eyes flicked from the bed, to herself, to the man getting dressed across from her.

“Morning sleepyhead.” He said, pulling a shirt over his nude torso. “I was going to make us breakfast if that’s ok.”

“Wait Leo.” She said. She’d never called him that before but all of a sudden it seemed to fit. “What I was trying to say last night… When I kissed you. I meant to say that I like you.” She sat up and he sat on the bed across from her. “This wasn’t meaningless to you was it?”

His face was pink with joy. His beam lit up his face.

“That’s exactly what I was going to say to you, except I couldn’t find the words.” He leaned forward and kissed her, softly and gently, trying to say what he could not. He channelled all of his emotion into that kiss.

And it must of worked because, like the Disney stories they were so fond of, they lived Happily Ever After.

**Author's Note:**

> You can listen to the songs here: https://8tracks.com/fitz-and-simmons/morning-encounters
> 
> EDIT: Due to new 8tracks restrictions the playlist is no longer available there. Sorry! :( 
> 
> Let me know if you liked it :) I'm not sure what it is, it just sort of happened. And yes, I know, cheesy ending! But I'm a sap at heart. 
> 
> I named Fitz's neighbour after my teacher YOU ARE AN ASSHAT SIR.
> 
> EDIT: That teacher has since gone to work at a private school to which I am applying for a scholarship as head of my favourite subject. I've had a discussion with him and he doesn't remember me so... fresh slate?


End file.
